One of the Islanders best runs of the season coincided with the recall of Ryan Strome in mid-December, as the Isles held a 9-5-0 record in the 2011 fifth-overall pick's first 14 NHL games. Strome’s first career goal came in a 7-3 win over the Dallas Stars during the middle of that run. Late in January, the Islanders sent Strome back down to the AHL to maintain his eligibility during the NHL’s Olympic Break. Following his post-Olympics recall, Strome notched six goals and eight assists for 14 points in the season’s final 22 games.

His 49 points (13G, 36A) in 37 AHL games earned him a spot on the AHL’s All-Rookie Team.

With 72 games played, Brock Nelson spent the most time in the NHL of any Islanders rookie this season. The 6'3, 196-lbs. Nelson proved his versatility spending time on all four of the Islanders’ forward lines while also playing both the wing and center throughout the course of the year. The rookie scored his first-career goal on Oct. 22 against the Vancouver Canucks. Nelson's impressive rookie season in the NHL earned him a spot on Team USA for the World Championships to be played in Minsk, Belarus during May.

Following a season-ending injury just three games into the Sound Tigers’ 2012-13 season, Calvin de Haan expected to spend this season refining his game in the AHL. However, that plan changed as injuries at the NHL level allowed paved the way to de Haan's recall in late November. Following the recall, de Haan established himself as a defenseman that played well beyond his years. The 2009 12th-overall selection played this season primarily on the Isles’ top defensive pairing alongside Travis Hamonic. The Carp, Ontario native scored his first-career NHL goal in his home province helping the Isles defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 7.